Why do healthy relationships matter and how do they impact our health?
Does it surprise you that the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine counts healthy relationships as one of the 6 key pillars of health? (1) Relationships whether in the form of friendship, marriage or family can have far reaching consequences for our mental wellbeing with social connection being a key factor in your risk of anxiety and depression. Perhaps more surprising is the impact of relationship on our physical health with loneliness estimated to have impacts on the rates of premature death equivalent to smoking and obesity (2).
If you feel lonely, you are somewhat ironically not alone in that feeling. In 2022 over 49% of adults reported feelings of loneliness with 7% reporting feeling lonely most or all of the time (2).
If you identify with this or know someone who does, the good news is that there are ways to build those social connections and relieve that feeling of isolation. The website Campaign to End Loneliness has some excellent resources on where to begin. These range from how to find out about volunteering opportunities in your local area to how to connect with others online (3).
As a GP I often see loneliness present itself as a low mood, lack of confidence and self-belief, anxiety or stress. Despite the statistics people often feel ashamed of admitting they are lonely and are hesitant to ask for help. It’s true to say that some of us are not blessed with natural family relationships and friendships and that loneliness stems from this fact, however, more often I find patients do have people in their circle but the relationships are damaged or dysfunctional in some way and people simply do not have the tools to repair.
This month on Alternative GP we’ll focus on those existing relationships; the marriages and partnerships, friendships and even those tricky child parent relationships. We’ll look at how to maintain these relationships when they’re going well and perhaps more importantly where to look when everything seems to be going wrong.
Relationships are key to our health and happiness, so follow along and invest your time and energy in them today.
References:
1. https://bslm.org.uk/healthy-relationships-and-social-connections/
2. https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/facts-and-statistics/
